The love in her eyes
by doc boy
Summary: Sometimes love can be complex and sometimes can be less than complex. But for one Hermione Granger, it can be the best thing in the world if it's worth waiting for...


The love in her eyes

I do not own Harry Potter

She missed him deeply and she was worried about him. Ever since he had that outburst at her she's been very sad. And hurt.

She chose Harry. That's what he said. What did he even mean by that? Did he think they were a couple? Because that wasn't the case. Sure Harry was her best friend and he meant the world to her but he wasn't her boyfriend. Harry being her boyfriend. It's been a long time since she thought of him that way. Not since fourth year. She had a crush on him since she first met him. He was kind, brave and compassionate… he was the first friend she ever had. When Ron had hurt her feelings during first year and she spent the day crying in the bathroom, Harry was the first to think of her and come to her rescue when the troll showed up. They never told her, but she was still able to figure it out. Then came the rest of the year and the riddles on the way to the philosopher's stone. When she thought he was going to die, she ran towards him and wrapped her arms around him in a big bone crushing hug, catching him off guard. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the gesture of affection and so did she. Over the next years there were more hugs to come. Like when he got lost on the way to Diagon Alley, or when he lost the bones in his arm. As soon as he was out of the hospital wing, Hermione wrapped her arms around him in a gleeful smile. But not as gleeful as at the end of the term when she was back to normal after being petrified. She felt happy. Safe in his arms. Like she knew deep down he would do whatever he can to protect her from further harm. It was then that she realized that her feelings for him were growing stronger and deeper. Third year was a step up in their relationship. She was exhausted and overworked because of her time turner. But Harry didn't know what was making Hermione so exhausted. All he knew was that he wanted to help her. When he found her asleep once at one of the desks in the common room, her pretty face buried in a mountain of papers and books, he gently removed the quill from her hand and placed a blanket around her shoulders and then hesitated for a minute. Finally, he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her hair when he made sure no one was looking.

"Thanks for being such a good friend to me Hermione and for always looking out for me. Now it's my turn…" he said and helped her finish her homework with the subjects he was familiar with. When she woke up the next morning, she found him sleeping on the sofa and her homework completed. She woke him up with a bone crushing hug and a small kiss on the cheek, happy and feeling lucky to have him as a friend.

Then came fourth year. And that's when things took a turn for the worse. He was in more danger than ever and she was worried for his life. She tried to be supportive as much as she could. By then she realized she loved him. She wanted to confess to him by the end of the year. But that's when all hell broke loose and she realized that wasn't the time to tell him how she felt, and it wouldn't be for a long time.

But poor Harry was not the same person since. He grew cold and grumpy, and Hermione's hopes that her feelings might be mutual began to diminish and fade away, until there was nothing left but sadness and disappointment over what she now believed to be unrequited love. So the only thing she could do for herself was to bury those feelings deep within her, to keep from sinking into the sadness and depression she was trying to hide.

Ron was right about her choosing Harry. But that's not the only reason why she stayed with him. They still had a job to finish and she felt safer around Harry. Not only because she loved him, but because he was nicer to her. Always was. Ron sacred her with how he treated her that night and she didn't want to run away with him, while he was behaving like that. But yeah. She loved Harry. She loved him more than anything on this Earth. More than her own breath and blood. But by now it was too late. They've known each other for so many years and she never made her move. She has to have been friend zoned by now, and that broke her heart. She sighed sadly in her seat and rested her face in her palms.

But her moment of despair was not to last, because she soon felt herself being pulled up by a person she knew very well, the same one she was hurting over, as he pulled her into a warm loving embrace. He placed his arms tightly around her waist, and just for that moment, Hermione felt safe from harm again. As if a ghostly image or rerun from their past was transpiring in front of her eyes. Soon Harry began to rock her slightly in his arms and the rocking soon moved to slight swinging and the swinging gave way to dancing as they danced their hearts out in the tent under the moonlight. It was exhilarating for her yet puzzling. Harry was not the type to initiate this kind of affection or interaction. Could it really be? That he really…?

Her thoughts were cut off as her instincts guided her back into his embrace without realizing her brain gave the order. Soon she was rocking in his arms again as the dancing slowly subsided and they peered into each other's eyes, both hesitating on how to act. Finally, he made the first move and decided to go for it. Her heart rate leaped into overdrive.

 _"It's happening. It's really happening…"_ she thought cheerfully as they slowly closed the gap between each other and kissed each other on the lips softly which soon became more feisty as they made out like the two horny teenagers that they were. It felt heartwarming yet also liberating. Hermione felt as if two caged birds were finally set free into the wild, free to roam the world together. Those birds being the love for him she buried deep inside of her and had erupted in a massive eruption, as if the metaphorical bird broke of its self imposed prison. Finally the need for air became inescapable. They pulled free and peered at each other's eyes longingly.

"I love you Harry. More than you'll ever know."

He leaned forward and kissed her slightly on the lips.

"I love you too Hermione. More than life itself."

She smiled as tears of joy began to fall down her cheeks. She tackled him in the biggest bear hug she could muster and wept happily into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I waited so long Hermione. I wanted to tell you since fourth year. But since the end of that year I started mistreating you and didn't think I deserved to be your boyfriend. I thought whatever feelings you might have had for me would have been erased because of my behavior. Besides I didn't want to put you in more danger than you already ere after that lunatic returned… I wanted to protect you. But now I realized I caused you more pain. And for that I am sorry."

Hermione sniffed happily in his embrace. She took a deep breathe and sighed happily.

"You're wonderful Harry, have I ever told you that?" she said, the compliment making him blush.

"You have now." He teased. And she laughed and they both sighed as he continued to rock her in his arms.

After a short while Hermione spoke.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"You're more than worthy to be my boyfriend."

He smiled happily.

"I'm glad."

"But one of these days, I want to become worthy of being your wife."

Harry smiled warmly as he caressed her cheek slightly and kissed her again.

"As far as I am concerned Hermione, you already are…" he said and they smiled and they kissed each other to sleep under the moonlight…

The end…

Whoa! I'm back man. At least for now. Sorry for being absent for so long. I've been really busy and preoccupied and had a bad case of writer's block. But I kept an eye on the poll on my profile page and saw that the vast majority of you, my lovely readers wanted me to write Harry and Hermione fics. So I finally got around to doing it and I'm glad I managed to get one more down. And I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. For those off you who are still interested, the poll is still there, ready to be taken…

And as always, reviews are most welcome…

Cheerio my good friends


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